I Love My Backlog

As each year draws to a close, I always find myself adding to my growing stack of must-play titles. For many gamers, this is a stressful process. It makes them feel overwhelmed. For me, my holiday backlog is a tradition I look forward to every year, like a gigantic feast just waiting to be devoured.

I spend my time at work and at home playing games during the year, so I'm pretty good at staying on top of the major releases...especially during the months when the titles have some space between them. In January and February this year, I played the big-name titles like Darksiders, Bayonetta, Mass Effect 2, BioShock 2, and Heavy Rain because those were the only releases in that timeframe that demanded my attention. Hell, I even had the time to play Mass Effect 2 three times!

When the holiday season approaches, it's harder to stay afloat. Not only are there more games to play, but life generally gets busier – which leaves me less time to sit in front of my TV. I feel like for every game I play, two get added to my backlog. For example, I've recently played God of War: Ghost of Sparta and Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, but I still have Castevania: Lords of Shadow, Fallout: New Vegas, Fable III, and Dead Rising 2 to polish off (though I've started some of them).

Where this makes some gamers feel like they're falling behind, that's never been the case for me. Playing games isn't like doing your homework or taking a test; it's supposed to be fun, which means you should do it at your own pace. I love hunkering down and spending an entire weekend with a game, which happens often during Minnesota winters because of the snow. The more games I have lined up, the more time like that I get to enjoy.

That's why I don't feel overwhelmed when I look at the stack of games I still have to play. I feel overjoyed, because that's a bunch of fun just waiting to be had. And I'll get to it soon enough.

So, that's my take. What about you? What's on your backlog right now? What are the odds that you'll finish everything you want to finish?